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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

May's Unexpected Book Haul

I sincerely thought that I would not end up buying books this month; or at least not very many. How wrong I turned out to be! I couldn't resist grabbing some of these dirt cheap bargains. When I walk into a shop that is practically giving away paperbacks for fifty cents each, then how can I NOT partake of that good fortune? I had to, and the stacks of bargain in the video below is the result of just such an occasion! I also grabbed two bargains from a local indie book shop that I will also share below. When I move to a new area I try to read books written by local authors, even if they aren't set in the area, so I couldn't resist grabbing book one in a fantasy series written by a local author at a Barnes & Noble and I also grabbed a Tony Hillerman anthology; because he is very much associated with New Mexico. So, yes, I did end up buying more books, but I'm not feeling one iota of guilt!

(Photo credit: Page 1 Books)Page 1 Books is the first independent book store that I have visited here in Albuquerque. It was has a pretty eclectic mix of books. The brand new books are mixed in with the used books on the shelves and I liked having everything together. The sections are well organized which made browsing very easy. The prices were reasonable and they were having a half off sale on select titles. I actually got the Walter Moseley book for only $2.50 which is a steal. The Hillerman anthology was only $10 for the hardback and is in very good condition. My daughter bought a few books that she was excited to find. All in all, my trip to Page 1 Books was a good one and I'll be going back.

The Joe Leaphorn Mysteries: The Blessing Way / Dance Hall of the Dead / Listening Woman (Leaphorn & Chee #1-3) by Tony Hillerman
Here are three outstanding mysteries, all featuring Navajo Tribal Police Lt. Joe Leaphorn, one of the genre's most insightful and intriguing sleuths. In The Blessing Way, a casual summer outing in the high desert to investigate rumors of Navajo sorcery leads Leaphorn and anthropologist Bergen McKee to a series of inexplicably grisly murders. In Dance Hall of the Dead, Leaphorn is assigned to track down a missing Navajo youth whose Zuni friend was found brutally murdered. With thousands of square miles of desert before him and only a keen sense of reason as a guide, Leaphorn's search unearths a deadly secrete and a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to keep it hidden. And in Listening Woman the murder of a terminally ill old man and a teenage girl on a desolate mesa has the state police and the FBI baffled. But Leaphorn's uncanny powers of deduction and his knowledge of the ways of his people lead him into a fanatical, century-old plot and the blood heart of the mystery.

A masterful, moving novel about age, memory, and family from one of the true literary icons of our time.

Ptolemy Grey is ninety-one years old and has been all but forgotten-by his family, his friends, even himself-as he sinks into a lonely dementia. His grand-nephew, Ptolemy's only connection to the outside world, was recently killed in a drive-by shooting, and Ptolemy is too suspicious of anyone else to allow them into his life. until he meets Robyn, his niece's seventeen-year-old lodger and the only one willing to take care of an old man at his grandnephew's funeral.

But Robyn will not tolerate Ptolemy's hermitlike existence. She challenges him to interact more with the world around him, and he grasps more firmly onto his disappearing consciousness. However, this new activity pushes Ptolemy into the fold of a doctor touting an experimental drug that guarantees Ptolemy won't live to see age ninety- two but that he'll spend his last days in feverish vigor and clarity. With his mind clear, what Ptolemy finds-in his own past, in his own apartment, and in the circumstances surrounding his grand-nephew's death-is shocking enough to spur an old man to action, and to ensure a legacy that no one will forget.

In The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Mosley captures the compromised state of his protagonist's mind with profound sensitivity and insight, and creates an unforgettable pair of characters at the center of a novel that is sure to become a true contemporary classic.

My only full price purchase this month was an impulse buy at Barnes & Noble. I admit to a little bit of buyers remorse for not waiting and ordering it later. But hey, it made me very happy in the moment!AmazonAll paths lead to war...

Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.

Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gold from both sides. She knows the secret life of commerce like a second language, but the strategies of trade will not defend her from swords.

Geder, sole scion of a noble house, has more interest in philosophy than in swordplay. A poor excuse for a soldier, he is a pawn in these games. No one can predict what he will become.

Falling pebbles can start a landslide. A spat between the Free Cities and the Severed Throne is spiraling out of control. A new player rises from the depths of history, fanning the flames that will sweep the entire region onto The Dragon's Path -- the path to war.

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The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory: I'm re-reading this as part of The Black Bookcase's read-along for the month of January. You can join in too. Just click the image and it'll take you to our group home. This one should make for good discussion.

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